"O ye that have riches in possession, once more hear the word of the Lord!
Ye that are rich in this world, that have food to eat, and raiment to put on, and
something over, are you clear of the curse of loving the world?"

"The play upon words is striking in the Hebrew, He looked for mishpat,
but behold mispat ("bloodshed"); for tsedaqua, but behold tseaqua
(the cry that attends anarchy, covetousness, and dissipation, Isa 5:8,11,12; compare the
cry of the rabble by which justice was overborne in the case of Jesus Christ, Mt
27:23,24)."

"In congregations of privilege, this passage becomes a challenge. Are we using our privilege to produce the sweet wine of justice in our society? Or does our propensity to cower behind privilege result in the stench of injustice that will ultimately repulse the God whom we claim to worship? Do we set out on quests for righteousness in our society, or are our actions representing the Church creating more harm than good?"

"Yet, frequently in
Scripture all of that is expressed not just in terms of specific laws or
regulations or rituals, but simply summarized by the terms righteousness
and justice. In other words, the expectation of God from these people
whom he had created and "planted" in the land was that they
should be righteous and practice justice."

"The exile did not mean Israel
lost its elect status; it did mean that for several generations the
people lost the blessings of that election. I cannot help but think
how the North American church has lost what it means to live into
the gracious expectations God has for us, to continue to bear fruit
for the kingdom."

Isaiah 5:1-7, Studies on Old Testament texts from
Series A, Ralph W. Klein, Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago.

"It is important for our
children to see us and to help us be involved in tending the
soil beyond our own little vineyards -- to see and help us work in
the larger society to make a better and more just world for all
people. This kind of involvement introduces our children to goals
not inspired by the greed of our capitalist culture gone
wrong."